Tuesday, May 13, 2008

I'm not sure if this is all of the Black Dwarf releases or not. I'm pretty sure there is no more vinyl, but not sure about the cassettes.

I will post the Faith Will Never Die compilation sometime this week. If anyone knows of links to other files besides those provided below, leave a comment. I will update this page with any new info.

UPDATE 8/3/2008: A link to the two Kallous Boys cassettes on Black Dwarf was posted in the comments a while back. The Black Dwarf discography has been updated with this info. These two cassettes are provided in full for free from the Kallous Boys/Porkweasel website. They have new and unreleased music also available. Thanks to whoever left that link in the comments.

Saturday, May 10, 2008

Another cassette, and another name variation from Uncommunity, the early 80's industrial/noise project from Stereolab founder Tim Gane.

Like the previous cassette posted, this is also a Freedom in a Vacuum label reissue, so it is likely a second generation copy from the original.

One side features studio recordings, the other, a live performance at 'The Shithouse'. Can anyone confirm if this was an actual venue, or the name of someone's garage/basement, etc...

This one is a bit noisier than the other tape, but has some decent moments at times.

There are two bonus studio tracks listed after the live portion. I worked my way backwards and split out the last two tracks and left what I thought to be the live part as one track. I can't guarantee the tracks are split out and titled as stated on the J-card.

I managed to dig up a Black Dwarf label compilation with Uncommunity and others. Will probably post that one next.

Tuesday, May 6, 2008

Following up from their 7" I posted a couple weeks ago, here is the first of two Unkommunity/Uncommunity cassettes I've managed to uncover in my collection. I may have another one or two buried somewhere.

This cassette is titled Ex-Oblivione and was originally released on Tim Gane's own label, Black Dwarf. This rip is taken from the Freedom in a Vacuum reissue. I believe the reissues were merely dubbed off the Black Dwarf label originals, unfortunately making these second generation copies. Given the nature of this music, it may not make that much of a difference anyway.

Uncommunity are usually tagged as power electronics/noise music, likely based on their association with Broken Flag, etc... However, there is quite a bit more here than just noise. Many tracks contain heavy, almost tribal percussion, others minimal & arpeggiated synths & drones, and even a bit of guitar here and there. To be honest, some of these pieces, particularly 'Black Suggestion', could just have easily been released via Insane Music, sounding a bit like Human Flesh.

These are some of the tracks I still enjoy listening to:

Black Goat - Repetitive synth line accompanied by a slowly strummed guitar and some other noises.

The Hand Behind - Tribal-like percussion with some moody organ/synth and tapes/samples

Black Suggestion - Tribal percussion accentuated with backwards cymbals and a buried melodic keyboard. I have always had a fondness for backwards cymbals...

Eidolon - Synths and other noise slowly building to a crescendo

New Awareness - More backwards sounds with some spoken word snippets - nowhere near being 'noisy'

There are eleven tracks on side A after I split them up. There are only ten listed on the cover (and on Discogs), so the last one is labeled as an unlisted bonus track. There is a chance two of these were to be combined as one. If anyone out there knows for sure, drop a comment.